Ripples
by Smiling Seshat
Summary: After the car accident, Caroline wakes up in the hospital as something much worse than a vampire. BAMF-But-Realistic!Caroline
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I make no money of this.**_

_This is a slight crossover with Claymore. You don't need to know anything about Claymore to understand this._

_Basically, Caroline wakes up with the memories and powers of a psychotic warrior called Ophélia, who is obsessed with killing and eating people._

_**This is as violent and bloody as canon. The endgame pairing will be Klaroline. This story features a powerful Caroline, because I really wanted to see her kicking ass, and those scenes where she's tortured by her dad or the werewolves make me want to write something where she can fight back.**_

-x-x-x-

Her head felt like it was about to explode, and memories were flitting about, memories of things she had never lived but someone felt like she had. Ever since the accident, she'd felt it, that strange presence in the back of her head, tempting her to go further. She'd ignored it, of course, knowing that she'd appear insane if she said anything.

When Elena came to visit her, she tried to follow the conversation as well as she could, but she was tired and out of sorts, so she could barely answer anything coherent. Hopefully, Elena would just think it was because of how sleepy Caroline was.

"What are you talking about? What message?" Caroline was squinting against the light of the bedside lamp as she said it. She really wanted to go back to bed and _sleep_.

She sat up, and looked at Elena, trying to ignore her pounding headache and the things in her mind that she knew for certain she had never lived. In one of those memories, she had a sword and was hacking to pieces a large monster. Caroline had never touched a sword in her whole life, so why could she remember it?

And then, the conversation took a bizarre turn.

"Game on."

"What?" asked Caroline, confused. Was that supposed to be a message? And why couldn't Elena tell Stefan and Damon that in person?

And then, before she'd realized what was happening, Elena had a pillow and was pressing it down on Caroline's face, suffocating her.

Caroline pushed, trying to shove her off. She was panicking, trying to breathe and failing, wondering why Elena was suddenly trying to kill her, _and didn't Elena know that the only way to kill her was to behead her?_

The strange thought was pushed aside in favour of struggling against Elena's tight hold. Caroline felt pathetic. In her head, she could remember being stronger. She could remember Awakening, becoming a monster, the kind she despised and had hunted. She'd been an Awakened being, like the horned woman of her childhood, who had killed her family and devoured them. Her brother had sacrificed himself to keep the monster distracted long enough for her to run like a coward.

_Why was she so weak?!_

The fury came, deep and intense, as well as a surge of power that felt addictive, good. She knew how to handle it, had once gone beyond her limit and had lost herself. But she was normal now, she looked human, and she could win. She wouldn't turn into a monster again, because she knew her limits better than ever before. She'd surpassed her limits, and that made it much easier to see just how far she could go.

She _**pushed**_, and ripped the pillow from a shocked Elena's hands, violently throwing it aside.

Caroline smiled. It was a nice smile, innocent and pure, the kind that belonged to a child. It was the smile Ophelia used to fool people into trusting her. It was the smile of a woman who had lost her touch with sanity long ago.

Elena tried to run, but Caroline was having none of that. She pushed herself up on her legs and jumped off her hospital bed at blinding speeds, the IV ripping itself from her arm soundlessly. She landed in the doorway, her back to Elena, who hadn't been fast enough to leave the room.

Slowly, Caroline turned her head backwards, keeping her back to Elena. Horrifyingly enough, her head didn't stop twisting, even when it should've snapped. Instead, it turned all the way like an owl, until her face was aligned with her spine, having turned 180 degrees. She was looking straight at Elena, who was looking worried, taking a step back.

Caroline's eyes were silver.

"Let's play a _game_," she said, her tone gleeful like a child's.

-x-x-x-

Morning came, and Caroline woke up with a smile on her face. She was on the floor, her back to one of the walls of her room. Last night, she hadn't been able to fall asleep in the bed so she'd decided to sleep like she was used to, during her time as a soldier of the organisation. She hadn't had her sword to lean against, so she'd sat down on the floor, her legs crossed, and had used the wall instead.

She stood and walked to the window. Briskly, she pulled the curtains to the side and let the sunlight in, revealing a nice view of the courtyard below.

It felt good to be alive.

She looked at the cars parked outside, at the people with their phones, at the man in an electric wheelchair, at the girl with her hair dyed pink, and wondered why it seemed so strange, to her. All those modern things suddenly felt incredibly foreign and unnatural, like something she hadn't known before. She remembered her mother's car, her own phone and the TV at home, yet she also remembered growing up as a peasant, a farmer's daughter in a small village, and how fearful she had sometimes been during the winter that she and her family would starve.

Things felt mixed up in her head and she wasn't sure of whom she was. Was she Caroline, the teenager, or Ophelia, the yoma hunter, the one who slayed monsters?

A noise made her turn around, and she saw her mother at the door, a tray of food in her hands.

"Hi," said Caroline, strangely timid. This was her mother, and yet not. She didn't know how to act because this woman felt like her mother and a stranger at the same time. So, she resorted to her infiltration training, and pretended.

"How are you?"

"Me?" asked her mother with a short laugh. "Honey, you're the one who is in the hospital." She came closer and placed the tray on the covers, where Caroline's thighs were.

"Is this all for me?" asked Caroline, looking at the large meal.

"Yes," said her mother. "You should get some food in your stomach. After what's happened, you need the energy."

Caroline looked down at the meal doubtfully.

"I'll try."

Evidently, her mother didn't believe she'd tried enough, because when her next visitor came several hours later, it was with yet another tray of food.

Why did humans need to eat so often?!

"Your mum said you're not eating," said Matt as he came in the room. He placed the food on a nearby table, while Caroline—Ophelia—tried to think of an adequate answer.

"It's gross," was all she could think of saying.

"It's hospital food," said Matt, coming closer. "It's supposed to be gross."

He bent down and gave her a chaste kiss. Caroline, eager to have him there (_a human toy!_), pulled him closer and deepened the kiss.

"Woah," he said, breaking apart to breathe. "What's with the warm welcome?"

"Can't I just enjoy having my boyfriend here?" asked Caroline, trying to forget that for a second, she'd wanted to play with him until he _bled_.

"Hey, I'm not complaining." He smiled against her lips, and held her as they kissed again.

Once they'd sufficiently greeted each other, he leaned back to continue where he'd left off.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. You mum said you're getting released tomorrow, in the morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" Caroline asked with a small grimace. She was in charge of the carnival. If it hadn't been for the accident, she'd be there right now, taking care of the preparations. She'd said she'd do it, and she felt fine now, powerful. Surely she could leave the hospital a bit earlier? Without her, the carnival would be a complete disaster. "Can't I be released a bit earlier?"

Matt smiled. Well, it looked more like a playful smirk, as if she'd said something terribly amusing.

"No. I know it's hard for your neurotic self, but the carnival will have to happen without you."

That other part of her feels the urge to hurt him for the insult. Instead, she says:

"I'm not neurotic."

Neurotic implied psychological problems. Insanity. And with the fact that she's hearing voices and feeling things she shouldn't be feeling (_and what she did to Elena, oh god—_), she doesn't like anyone talking about anything that might have to do with her psychological self.

"Yeah, you are," said Matt. "But it's cute, so I forgive you."

And suddenly the earlier insult hurt less. She smiled at him, and tried to talk about what had been worrying her all day.

"So…" she said, "how are Elena and Bonnie?"

She hadn't dared ask her mother, because she knew that her mother would be the one in charge of Elena's disappearance, and it could appear strange for Caroline to ask about Elena just around the same time Elena would be reported missing.

So instead, she was asking Matt, who wouldn't be as suspicious. She needed to know the situation, know if people had realized Elena was gone yet.

"They're fine," said Matt. "Elena called me today and told me she'd be taking care of the carnival with Bonnie for you, since you can't."

Caroline blinked, her mask temporarily cracking. "Elena called you?"

Even if Elena had been like Caroline, a silver-eyed witch capable of regeneration, it was impossible for her to bounce back from what Caroline had done to her for daring to try and kill her. The body hadn't been whole enough for even the most powerful regeneration to heal.

Caroline remembered the claims of that girl being called Katherine, and wondered if it was possible that the one she had killed wasn't Elena.

"Yeah, _Elena_," said Matt. "You're going to have to learn to deal with it, Caroline. Just because we broke up doesn't mean I'm not still friends with her."

He frowned, suddenly.

"Hey, is it me, or do your eyes look different?"

Caroline sat up, her back straight.

"I'm feeling a little tired right now," she said. "Do you think we could talk more later? I'm a bit exhausted, honestly."

"… Sure."

Caroline could see she hadn't completely convinced him, but he left nonetheless.

_I'm a murderer_, she thought. _A monster._

She thought back on Elena (Katherine?), who had tried to kill her and failed. She'd tried to bargain, to manipulate and to plead, but Caroline had still killed her in the end.

_Ophelia had killed her. And she'd enjoyed it._

-x-x-x-

_A/N: You do not need to know this, but you might want to anyway:_

_Claymore is a manga about a mediaeval world with monsters called yoma. They eat humans and are next to impossible to hunt._

_To kill these yoma, there's this organisation that basically creates half-yoma, half-human warriors via demon flesh-implants. It gives them the strength of a yoma, but the control and intelligence of a human. So they are strong enough to detect and kill yoma. Using their yoma power/energy (called yoki), they can perform superhuman feats of strength. If the demonic energy is overused, the girls will become something worse than yoma, called Awakened beings. Since using this power feels extrememly good, it's difficult to stop using it before getting to the limit and actually becoming a monster._

_All half-yoma warriors are female. They have silver eyes and whitish-blonde hair, traits that come from the yoma parts inside of them. When they become half-yoma, their hair loses most of its colour, as do their irises. Sometimes, these warriors can have pointed ears, but not always. Ophelia, the one who's memories Caroline will have, has such ears and generally wears her hair in a French braid._

_Once they've reached their early twenties, these warriors stop aging. When a warrior begins using their yoki, their eyes turn gold, meaning they are channeling energy. When they use too much power and lose control over their yoki, they become Awakened beings. These beings all look different, but are generally huge, monstrous creatures. They all eat human flesh, like normal yoma, and are much more powerful and intelligent than normal yoma._


	2. Chapter 2

_Despite this ending up as Klaroline, right now Caroline is with Matt. That means there will be some mushy romance stuff with him until Klaus comes around. _

_Thanks to the reviewers: Hellzz-on-Earth, EtherealDemon, Mitch-Klefanlover and three guests!_

_Things are still pretty close to canon right now, but as soon as Katherine's death starts making waves, there'll be big changes coming up. Since the first chapter was so well received, I decided to post this early. I was planning on updating next week or the week after that, but the reviews convinced me otherwise. So if you want faster update, leave a comment; it's what keeps me writing._

_As you can see, Caroline is rather unstable. The new memories are messing with her, so at moments she's herself, and during others she goes wildly out of character with sudden bursts of rage or desire for violence. I've tried to represent this 'double personality' as well as I could._

-x-x-x-

She was at home, sitting with a cup of tea when she heard the knocking.

"Caroline?"

It was Matt. He'd come to see her.

She drank the rest of her tea, ignoring how it burnt her tongue, and tried to get her nerves to settle. She breathed in deeply, and exhaled slowly. Matt called her again, so she hurried to the front door.

"Coming!" she said.

She unlocked the door and opened it wide, revealing her smiling boyfriend.

"I was wondering where you were," he said, leaning in to give her a peck on the mouth.

"Sheesh, give me at least a few seconds to answer. I'm not _that_ fast." Technically she was, but Caroline was ignoring that part of her and pretending everything was normal.

What did it mean, when she couldn't tell the difference between herself and the new memories in her head? What did it mean, when half the time she didn't even realize she wasn't acting as she normally would have? Her tastes had changed, and she could feel the physical differences; her eyes had changed _colours_.

It wasn't too noticeable, thankfully, but in the dark they tended to gleam. So she'd told herself that if anyone asked, she'd say she was wearing contacts. She was popular enough to be able to pull off something so weird without people questioning her. Who knew? Maybe she'd start a new trend.

Caroline wrapped her arms around Matt, and allowed herself to lean on him and pretend he was strong enough to protect her against all of her fears.

Elena had called, earlier that morning. She'd congratulated Caroline on being released from the hospital, and had reassured her that the carnival had gone well and there had been no problems. As for Caroline… Well, she'd been quite surprised Elena was alive. That phone call had cemented the fact that there'd been a freaky Elena-copy hanging around calling herself Katherine, and that that was the person Caroline had… killed.

Caroline had been too paranoid to talk to Elena about it over the phone, so she'd decided to see Elena soon and see if the girl was aware that apparently, she had a long-lost twin. Which Caroline had killed.

Great.

"Hey," said Matt, his voice a low murmur. He seemed to understand that something was going on, because he'd raised his hand to rub her back comfortingly. "I was gonna invite you to this, uh, thing that Tyler's doing at the swimming hole, so we could spend the day together. D'you think you'd be up to it?"

Oh…

"I'm sorry," she said, leaning back to look him in the eyes. "I promised Bonnie I'd go see her. She's got a date this evening with a cute guy she met at the carnival, so we were planning on spending the day together and… stuff." Well, that sentence had ended lamely. Caroline felt a bit guilty that she was abandoning him like that. After all the effort she'd put in to become his girlfriend, it felt horrible to let him down. "You could come with, if you want."

Matt shook his head, grimacing. "Nah, sorry. I promised Tyler I'd be there, and I don't feel like intruding on your girls' party."

Snorting, Caroline repeated, "Party? We're only two. The wildest thing we'll do is talk about"—she took on an overly girly tone—"_cute boys and fashion_." She smiled at him, speaking normally again: "Sure you don't wanna join us?"

That little smile in the corner of his mouth, the one she loved so much, had come back. His blue eyes were more entrancing than ever.

"Too girly for me. How about I see you tomorrow, instead?"

She cocked her head to the side, looking at him with a happy smile. "Call me?"

"You bet." He leaned in to kiss her.

He smelt good.

She wondered if he'd taste as good as Katherine had.

-x-x-x-

Bonnie opened her front door, and beckoned Caroline in.

"There's a bit of a mess," said Bonnie. "I didn't take care of the dishes yet, and the kitchen's a bit untidy. Sorry. "

Bonnie knew that Caroline liked when things were nice, clean and ordered. The fact that she'd excused herself before Caroline even complained was one proof of their deep friendship.

"'S fine," said Caroline.

She kissed Bonnie's cheek, and was surprised when the other girls stiffened up, as though something terrible had happened.

"Bonnie?" she asked, waving her hand in front of Bonnie's face worriedly. "You there?"

Strangely enough, Bonnie had an expression of dawning horror on her face, which was really out of context with the situation. Was something wrong?

Her hand went to shake Bonnie's shoulder, but before she could even get in contact with the girl, Bonnie snapped out of it.

"Don't touch me!" cried Bonnie, and Caroline was thrown back against the closed front door. The impact would've been painful, had she been normal.

She managed to slide back down the door gracefully, and land on her feet instead of on all fours.

"Bonnie, what the hell?" asked Caroline, more than a little angry. "Why did you do that? _How_ did you do that?!"

_Oh, how she wanted to __**rip**__ her apart for daring to— _

"What did you do, Caroline?" asked Bonnie. There were tears in her eyes. "_Who did you kill?!"_

Caroline stilled.

_Bonnie wasn't supposed to know._

"It was self-defence!" Caroline cried, pleading, _hoping_ Bonnie would understand. "There was this girl, and she tried to kill me, so I defended myself! It was self-defence!" She'd turned slightly hysterical at the end.

"No it wasn't!" Bonnie snarled. "I felt it! If it was self-defence, then why does it feel like you enjoyed it?!"

"Felt it?!" Caroline shrieked. "How can you feel it?!"

She was grasping at straws, doing what she could to try and avoid answering.

"I told you." Bonnie's voice had gone all soft, and she was strangely still, staring fixedly at Caroline. "I told you I was a witch, but you didn't believe me." She raised her chin defiantly. "Well, I didn't lie! And the moment I touched you, I knew you'd killed, Caroline. I know you did something! So either you tell me right now, or you lose my friendship."

Her gaze was intense.

"Forever."

-x-x-x-

Elena leafed through the old book, feeling conflicted by the information she'd found within. She was lying on her bed, the tome open in front of her.

She raised her head when Stefan came in.

"Hey," he said, greeting her.

She closed the book, and sat up on her bed.

"Sorry I'm late," continued Stefan. "I was updating Damon on everything." He joined her, sitting on the side of the bed. "He was extra cranky. I guess that means you held your own at Duke." He had a slight smile on his face as he said it.

Elena sighed heavily. "He's just upset because I played him at his own game."

A soft snicker. "Did it work?"

She nodded. "I held my own," she said, repeating his earlier words.

He chuckled, amused.

The book was on her thighs, and the knowledge she'd acquired was weighing on her. She raised the heaving thing, and said:

"This is Katherine's family line." She held the leather-bound book so he could clearly see the word PETROVA on its spine. "All of it."

It was a bit strange, because from what research she'd done, Russian names, Bulgarian names and the like, they usually ended in '-ov' for males, and 'ova' for females. So, the name Petrova should've only applied for the women in Katherine's family. Strangely enough, it seemed the name was 'Petrova' for men, too. She still hadn't found an explanation for that. Though, since the book focused mostly on the female part of the line, it was possible that that was why the title was Petrova, and not Petrov or Petroff.

"Dates back hundreds and hundreds of years." It felt strange to think that this book was several centuries older than her. She felt as though she should handle it with gloves and instruments, so old was it.

She searched through the book until she found the right page. It was a list of names, with the dates of birth of each name. The list ended with Katherine, the last member of the Petrova family.

Elena pointed at the date next to the name.

"Her birthday was June, twenty-second of sixteen-forty-two."

She looked at him meaningfully. He stared at the book, as if it would reveal all the answers they needed. Finally, when he found nothing, he looked up at Elena.

"June twenty-second, Stefan," said Elena.

She then whispered, as if it was some horrible secret:

"That's my _birthday_."

Stefan nodded, the movement like an uncontrolled jerk, and he frowned. He didn't know what to say.

Elena shook her head, as if it could get rid of the confusion. "What does it mean?"

Stefan had no answer for her.

-x-x-x-

Mason leaned against a wall, looking at the people around him, drumming his fingers against his leg nervously. He was at the Mystic Grill, a rather popular restaurant amongst the locals, and he was currently feeling quite worried.

He was supposed to meet someone here, but they hadn't shown up. Normally he'd just get a table and buy a drink so he'd have something to keep him busy while he waited, but the fact that he was away from his usual territory made him uneasy, and more paranoid than usual.

He entered the men's room. There was one person there, washing their hands. He waited until the other man left, and then brought his phone out. He dialled a familiar number, and brought the phone to his ear.

There was no answer. It wasn't that unusual, but it still made him feel nervous. He interrupted the call and left a text message instead.

_Where are you?_

He clicked send.

A few seconds later, the message was sent to a certain Kathy, Mason's girlfriend.

-x-x-x-

_Explanation:_

_Caroline's accident gave her the memories and abilities of a warrior that hunts and kills a breed of demons called yoma. Ophelia grew up in a world terrorised by these demons. One day, her village was attacked by Priscilla. __Priscilla used to be a yoma-hunter, but she lost control of her abilities and went past her limits, becoming a demon herself. When half-demon warriors go past their limits, they become something worse than a yoma, called an Awakened being, and they lose just about all their humanity and hunger for human flesh. That's what Priscilla was._

_She killed and ate the people from Ophelia's village, and Ophelia's big brother gave himself up as a sacrifice to keep Priscilla occupied long enough for Ophelia to run. Since Ophelia became an orphan, due to these events she was taken in by the Organisation, which is in charge of making the half-yoma warriors that hunt the demons. __They put pieces of yoma flesh into her body, making her half-demon. That gave her the strength of one of these demons, as well as the ability to detect them, something normal humans can't do. These half-yoma warriors are useful because they have their humanity and are as strong as demons._

_Ophelia became obsessed with Awakened beings,, which are demon-hunters that lose control and become impossibly powerful demons._


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the reviews, EtherealDemon and Mitch-Klefanlover! :)**

-x-x-x-

"Wai-wait-wait!" said Caroline, holding a hand up. There was too much information, and she felt like she was drowning in it. "So you're saying that this… 'other-Elena'—"

"Katherine," said Bonnie.

"—is Elena's evil vampire ancestor? That's so _freaky_."

Bonnie hid her face in her hands. "I still can't believe you managed to kill her."

Caroline hesitated, not wanting to talk about it anymore than she'd already done. She'd explained everything to Bonnie, and wasn't in any hurry to repeat herself and see Bonnie look even more shocked.

"I didn't want to tell you," she said.

Bonnie put her hand on Caroline's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm glad you did. Katherine was dangerous, and I understand why you did what you did. I feel happy, because that means that Elena will be safer, and it's at least one problem we won't have to deal with. That woman was seriously dangerous."

"But… ?" prompted Caroline. She knew it couldn't be this easy. There had to be a 'but'.

"But," said Bonnie, nodding, "you can't kill. If you start killing humans, I _will_ stop you. I have no idea what you are, Caroline, but from what you told me, it's serious. If it's a vampire trying to kill you, then I can understand. But don't ever kill an innocent." She looked at Caroline. "I mean it, Care. If you do_, I'll stop you_."

"With your witchy powers?" said Caroline jokingly.

Bonnie didn't find it funny. "Yes."

Caroline didn't say anything, but she was thinking it.

_I could take you._

"So, you don't care about what I do, as long as I do it vampires and not to humans. Isn't that a bit… racist of you?"

Bonnie shrugged. "I'm a witch. People like me are connected to nature, and everything that goes with it. Vampires aren't natural; they're _against_ nature. It's normal that witches won't like vampires and will protect humans from them." Her lips stretched in a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Besides, it's in a vampire's nature to kill. Why wouldn't I be against them? They're… _unnatural_."

There was a lot of repetition of words associated with 'nature', there.

"Unnatural?" Caroline repeated, snorting. "If witches are against unnatural stuff, then why aren't you against modern inventions like phones and cars? That's not natural; it's man-made." Without realizing it, her tone was changing, adopting traits from her other personality, and she began smiling a charismatic smile capable of convincing people she was on their side, right until the moment she killed them. "People are living longer, because hospitals are getting better, and the food, too. A few centuries ago, you'd be lucky to live until sixty years old. Now, people can live up to one hundred years. If our lifespan goes up to two hundred years old, will witches think we're unnatural and try to kill us, too?"

This was the other part of her brain talking. Caroline agreed to it, not even stopping to think about it. The arguments felt right.

She was flipping through a magazine as she spoke, not really looking at it. Bonnie and her were seated in the living room, where Bonnie had placed fashion magazines beforehand for inspiration for her upcoming date. Of course, after Bonnie had touched Caroline and discovered her friend had killed, the magazines had been forgotten, as well as any discussion about the hot young man she'd met at the carnival.

Caroline had picked up one of the magazine as she'd been talking earlier, explaining what had happened to her, and had been looking at it in an attempt to use it as a distraction. She hadn't wanted to look at Bonnie.

Now, she closed it, the noise from the motion making her feel even more satisfied about what she'd just said.

Bonnie appeared irritated. "No, you don't understand. Vampires are artificial. Cars aren't natural, sure, but they're natural in the sense that they can _exist_ on Earth, and are _supposed_ _to_ because humans created them. Vampires aren't supposed to exist, and were not created by something natural. Vampires hunt and kill humans. Witches _protect_ humans. Vampires are abominations, against nature. They aren't meant to exist." She said it clearly, so that Caroline would understand.

To Bonnie, Caroline was, essentially, a powerful ally. She was also a friend. Bonnie would do what she could to ensure Caroline didn't get too close to vampires, like Elena. It would only get her hurt.

"You know," Caroline said wryly, "that whole speech about vampire's being against nature is exactly what a homophobe would say about someone who's gay. That doesn't make homosexuals 'abominations of nature', Bonnie. Please try to contain your prejudices."

Her voice had completely shifted, as well as the cadence and the tone. It was no longer Caroline in front of Bonnie, but a whole other person. Bonnie didn't let her worry show. She needed to establish limits, or else Caroline might become the next big threat bonnie would have to face, and that thought was intolerable. She needed Caroline on her side. She needed to give Caroline a line of focus, so she wouldn't go attacking humans, killing left and right with no one capable of stopping her.

"I explained the situation, and I'll do it again," said Bonnie.

She expected Caroline to say something about how she didn't want to hear something that had already been said, but curiously enough, Caroline said nothing.

Bonnie tried to think of the best way of explaining the situation.

"Ever since Stefan came to town, people have been dying, and people I care about have been attacked. I'm not saying it was his fault, but he's the one who started it, knowingly or not. First it was Damon, who killed people, and then came other vampires and other problems. Every time, I had to do something because I can't accept this; I refuse to let people die. And because I wanted to help, to try and make the situation better, my grandmother died. Other people died too, but my grams is the one I care about the most." She took a deep breath, and looked straight at Caroline.

This was the important moment.

"Care, you killed Katherine, and she was a powerful vampire. She was hurting people, and threatening them, and you stopped her. I don't think you realize this, but you've changed, and I can feel it. Katherine was a vampire, but that doesn't change the fact that you killed her in cold blood. Your… powers, your abilities made you do that, and they've changed you."

Caroline looked at the wall in front of her blankly, not truly seeing the pictures and paintings set up there. Her gaze was unfocused, and she was thinking deeply.

"Bonnie…" she said. "What are you trying to say?"

"You're strong," said Bonnie. "The situation in town is getting worse, and there are always new problems popping up. I want you to use your powers for good, Caroline, and help me protect this town. Instead of just attacking people, I want you to focus that power on enemies, and help me protect Elena, Matt, Jeremy…" Caroline hadn't changed expressions much, so Bonnie added another person to the list, hoping it would work better than Matt, who she'd hoped would've been enough to convince Caroline: "And your mum, of course."

That worked.

Caroline was tearing up, and the mention of her mum had been enough for her to become herself again.

"I'm a murderer," she said, sniffling. "I killed her, and I thought she was Elena, and I ate her and I liked it and _oh god!" _She started crying.

Bonnie moved closer to where Caroline was sitting on the couch and wrapped her arms around her friend in a hug.

"Shh…" she was saying, brushing Caroline's blonde hair with her fingertips. "It'll be all right. Shhh…"

"Why…" Caroline hiccupped, and raised her head to look at Bonnie, making her dripping mascara visible. "Why a-are you being so nice to me? I killed someone!"

"You're my friend," said Bonnie, pulling Caroline closer. "I want to help you use your powers for good, and protect Mystic Falls. You may have killed Katherine, but you made the town safer by doing so. This town doesn't have enough protectors. Elena's too in-love with Stefan, and forgives any problem Damon causes. I'd feel really happy if I knew I could count on you to help me stop anything bad from happening."

"Gee," Caroline said, laughing. Her tone was a bit uneven from the crying. "You really _do_ sound desperate for help. Are there that many bad guys just waiting to kill everyone?"

"You'd be surprised," mumbled Bonnie.

"Don't worry, Bonnie," whispered Caroline, burrowing her face into the junction of Bonnie's neck. "I won't become another enemy on your list of problems to take care of. I'll help you. You know I'll always help you."

Bonnie tried to hide how relieved she felt at hearing that declaration. She wasn't sure she managed.

"You said you didn't tell anyone about what happened to you, right? No one knows what you can do except me?"

Caroline leaned back, wiping her eyes and settling more comfortably on the worn couch.

"Yeah. You're the only one who knows."

Bonnie nodded to herself firmly.

"I think we should keep it a secret," she said. Caroline looked at her in surprise, obviously not understanding why.

"Think about it," continued Bonnie, "Katherine didn't know what you could do, and that gave you the element of surprise. You managed to kill her because she wasn't expecting you to be anything other than normal. If we keep your situation a secret, then it could be useful, since everyone would be underestimating you. We'd tell Elena, but no one else."

Shaking her head, Caroline grabbed the magazine she'd been holding earlier and opened it again.

"It won't work," she said. "They'll figure out my reflexes are too fast, or they'll see something's wrong with my personality."

Pursing her lips, Bonnie thought hard over the issue. "Well, there is one thing we can do."

"What?" asked Caroline, raising her head.

Bonnie smiled.

"How do you feel about pretending to be a vampire?"

-x-x-x-

"So, your… witchy powers. Aren't they, like, inherited?" asked Caroline, staring at the ring on her finger.

Bonnie had enchanted the ring to work as a regular daylight ring used by vampires to protect them from the sun. They used them to go out during the day. Caroline would have to wear hers constantly in order for the ruse to work, so people would think she was a vampire too.

"I explained the whole thing to you earlier this year, and you just ignored me. Why should I explain it again now?" asked Bonnie, exasperated.

Caroline felt guilty. She remembered how Bonnie had raved on and on about being a witch, and Caroline hadn't paid much attention because _how was she supposed to know it was actually true?!_

"Yeah, but this time you shoved me against a wall with your witchy powers and that's proof, and it means now I know you're not crazy, okay? It's a whole different mind-set. Explain it again to me."

"Basically," Bonnie said, looking rather annoyed. "My grams was the one who told me, since my mum left me when I was a kid, so she couldn't—" Caroline took a step forwards to give Bonnie a hug but Bonnie stopped her by putting her left hand on Caroline's chest, holding her at arm's length. "Would you _stop_ doing that?"

"N-no?"

"I'm not traumatized to the point that I need a hug every time I mention it, okay?!"

"Well, _sorry_. Just trying to be a good friend, here." Caroline had to stop herself from saying it too aggressively.

"Anyway," said Bonnie, ignoring that last part, "I'm mostly learning thanks to a family grimoire with useful spells in it."

Caroline frowned. "Do you only have that? Don't you have a whole library full of witchy books? I mean, if you come from Salem witches, which was a gazillion years ago, your ancestors should've had more than enough time to write more than one book, right?"

"If there are any other books," said Bonnie, "then I haven't heard of them."

"Well, you should really look into it. I've seen this sort of stuff on TV, and I know how this plot goes; one day we'll find out your family wrote other magic books, and they're all in the hands of some psycho who's hell-bent on world domination and using the magic books to get there."

Bonnie stared.

"Caroline, you're being ridiculous."

There was a few seconds of silence, and Caroline tried to hide her embarrassment.

"Anyway, I still can't believe vampires exist," she said, changing the subject none-too-subtly. "I mean, Stefan? Totally Edward Cullen. They brood _exactly_ the same. Or he'd be Louis, _from Interview with a Vampire_. 'Cept less gay like Louis was for Lestat."

"I didn't know you read," said Bonnie, mercifully agreeing to drop the previous subject. "Who knew; Caroline, bookworm _extraordinaire_!" She made showy gestures, as if she was introducing a magician to a crowd.

"I _read_," said Caroline, indignant.

There were a few seconds of silence.

"… Really?" asked Bonnie doubtfully.

"Well." Caroline coughed. "I watched the movie."

She was fully aware of how pitiful that sounded, so she cleared her throat and pretended those last seconds of conversation hadn't happened.

-x-x-x-

_Next chapter – confrontation with the Salvatores!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A bit shorter than I'd planned, but I didn't wish to delay it any longer, and the next scene is quite long so I wished to avoid having it in this chapter._

_Thanks to M et M, Not-Gonna-Update, Mitch-Klefanlover, EtherealDemon and a guest for the reviews._

_Enjoy._

-x-x-x-

"That's it?!" asked Damon incredulously.

Bonnie shrugged, settling herself more comfortably against the table, next to Caroline. Caroline moved to accommodate, her hair brushing against the bottles of alcohol behind her.

"What he means," said Stefan, arms crossed as he looked at the two girls, "is that we'd like more details than just you saying that Caroline 'killed' Katherine."

"Which is _impossible_," snapped Damon. "Katherine's an old vampire, _waaay_ too powerful for someone like Caroline to kill." The way he said 'Caroline' was highly condescending.

"She came to my hospital room," said Caroline, purposely making herself sound meek and vulnerable. "She pushed a pillow against my face, and waited for me to stop breathing. To make her pay, I stopped her from leaving."

"How?" asked Damon, his eyes on her like he could see the answers on her face. "How could you have survived that?"

Bonnie was to one who answered that.

"She didn't." That shut Damon up. "Your blood turned her, Damon."

The Salvatore brothers turned to look at Caroline, seemingly expecting her to turn into a belligerent, blood-thirsty monster, the state any new born vampire would be in. Caroline just raised an eyebrow.

"And you expect us to believe that?!" exclaimed Damon, not very impressed.

A second after he'd said that, he exploded into motion. In barely a second, he was in front of Caroline, poised with his hand out to throw her backwards, proving her lack of vampiric speed as she would be unable to defend herself. It would force Bonnie to admit her lie, and explain what was _really_ going on. Caroline wasn't agreeable to his plan.

Looking quite casual, Caroline's folded arm snapped out and caught Damon in the neck, her elbow hitting his Adam's apple. The strength made his trachea cave in. He was left on his knees, holding his neck as he desperately attempted to breathe.

"You shouldn't hit girls," said Caroline, her smile wide and hungry, a smile belonging to the monster within her.

Damon inhaled violently, his throat having finally healed enough for him to breathe. He coughed, blood leaking from his parted lips.

"Well," he said, his voice raw. "I can tell you got your memories back." He coughed again. "Shit..."

Memories? Caroline frowned. What memories were he speaking of? She couldn't ask it out loud and accidently admit she didn't know something she might be expected to, so she didn't say anything and kept her expression neutral, if a bit predatory, to keep Damon from getting any ideas. She could always ask Bonnie later what memories Damon had spoken of.

Her gaze went back to Stefan, who was slightly more rigid than normal. His expression was carefully blank.

"You're not lying," he said, "but you're still keeping things from us. How can you have such control over your thirst, Caroline? You should not be able to talk calmly."

Caroline's first instinct was to say something along the lines of 'if you can control yourself, so can I'. But she didn't do that, her other side stopped her with some logical facts: Bonnie had told her that they were more than a century old. Stefan had just implied that a vampire's blood thirst was uncontrollable for a new born vampire, but not for him, probably because of his age. So that meant that the Salvatores had had enough time to learn to control themselves, and that kind of control was something she was supposed to lack, because she was such a young vampire.

Bonnie and Caroline had prepared what they would say, but it had been a fast plan, with few details. In hindsight, Caroline realized that had been bad, and they should've prepared more. So, she improvised.

She smiled broadly, as if she was particularly proud. Stefan took a step back, probably expecting her to do something.

"Everyone always says I'm such a neurotic, control freak." She spat out those last words as if they were venom. "Aren't you just glad it means I can control myself, too? Even as a vampire?" She was being purposely vague, and relied on her agression to stop him from probing too much and discovering she was making it up as she went along.

Stefan still didn't seem convinced, so she continued speaking, hopefully halting his questions.

"Besides, I killed Katherine, who looked really like Elena in a very freaky twin-way. Can't you say thank you?"

Damon spoke again, taking the bait without realizing it and shifting the conversation to what Caroline and Bonnie had planned.

"I still don't get how you killed her. New born vampire or not, she's older and stronger than you. How could you have killed her?"

"Well," said Caroline. "Bonnie told me how you fed me your blood so I'd heal. She just didn't trust you'd actually do it." She looked at Bonnie, who smiled back. Encouraged, Caroline continued, "So she used a spell to make my body strong so I wouldn't die until I was safe."

"But then Katherine killed her," said Bonnie, continuing the tale, "and the vampire blood made her turn. The spell I'd put had a reaction to that and changed her. She's stronger than she should be and-"

"It changed her eyes," finished Stefan, looking at Caroline properly. "They're grey."

"Silver," corrected Caroline, offended. "Not _grey_."

"So..." said Damon. "What, she became a bit stronger and punched Katherine?"

Bonnie shrugged, looking at ease. "Pretty much."

Damon gaped at her audacity.

"But..." It was clear that he was floundering, trying to find a way to make them reveal what he saw as a lie. Finally, he just asked: "Where's the body?"

Stefan had his arms crossed, silent. His gaze was assessing the two girls, searching for a weakness in their front.

Caroline smiled again, looking cute and bubbly. "Bonnie got rid of it for me! Then, she made me this ring!" She proudly showed off the ancient-looking jewellery, with a blue stone in the middle. It was purely decoration, as she didn't need a 'daylight ring'. But it was part of the charade, so she had to put it on.

Damon was still stuck in his state of incredulity.

"Oh I see," he said, sarcastic. "So now apparently you've taken care of Katherine, and somehow managed to kill her and, _oh_, conveniently enough there's no body to prove what you say. What's next, you've domesticated Mason and got him to play fetch with you?"

"Who?" asked Caroline, confused. "Isn't he Tyler's cousin, or something?"

"His uncle, actually," corrected Stefan softly.

"And a freakin' werewolf," added Damon, tone snide.

Caroline scoffed, standing up properly. "Him, a werewolf?"

She hadn't really known Mason, but she'd seen him plenty of times during her childhood, and once or twice he'd even greeted her. He didn't look like a werewolf. Weren't they usually a bit more hairy, even as humans? In the movies, they often looked a bit wild, even in human form. Mason was nice, and didn't seem capable of any sort of violence. But then again...

Her mind flashed back to the memories, disjointed as they were, that had appeared in her head since that night at the hospital. She remembered women, some looking quite dainty, yet capable of decapitating huge monsters.

_Awakened Beings,_ murmured a voice in her head. _Monsters. Like me._

With a bit of prodding, the Salvatores reluctantly explained what they knew about Mason, and what they planned to do to force him to reveal himself.

"A barbeque," said Bonnie, her tone flat, "where he has hostages, in case it goes wrong for him. And you're inviting him in _Elena and Jeremy's_ _home_?"

Stefan winced, and Damon just glowered. Clearly, they hadn't thought it through.

"Don't worry, guys. I know what to do," said Caroline confidently. "I have a fool proof plan to see if he's another bad guy or not."

Stefan raised his eyebrows. "... You do?"

-x-x-x-

The next morning, Carol opened the front door of her home, and found a large fruit basket, with an envelope with _Mason_ written on it. She brought it to Mason, looking a bit puzzled. The man in question opened the enveloppe and read the contents of the letter within, growing increasingly confused as he began to understand what the feminine script was saying:

_Are you evil?_

_Yes / No_

_(Circle right answer)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks to the reviewers: EtherealDemon, Not-Gonna-Update, CMPhoenix, Mitch-Klefanlover, Emerald Isis, AddriannaDestiny, xxxLeanniexxx and two guests!_

-x-x-x-

After Bonnie and Caroline had left, the two vampire brothers were simply left standing in the living room, staring at the table covered in liquor bottles. It was against that very table that the girls had been leaning a few minutes ago. Damon seemed deeply unhappy, and Stefan was frowning.

"Did they really expect us to believe that?" asked Damon.

"Honestly? I think they thought they'd fool us," said Stefan, amused.

Damon shook his head. "What part of 'over a century old' don't they understand? I've lived long enough to tell when someone's lying to my face, and Caroline really isn't a good liar."

"Actually," said Stefan, "she was."

There was a moment of silence as Damon thought over that.

"For once, little bro, you're right." No more needed to be said. They knew each other too well to need elaboration.

That fact of the matter was, Caroline had seemingly become an extremely skilled liar overnight, as though she'd turned into someone else. Stefan had noticed that the Caroline they'd just seen didn't match up with the one they knew. The brothers knew her as a girl that couldn't lie well, tended to be easy to get a read on, and usually every part the typical, popular teenager.

The Caroline they'd been confronted with had more talent in lying, but not enough to fool the Salvatores. They'd lived a long life, and had learnt enough to be able to see she hadn't been honest. She was an exceptional liar for a human, but for someone who'd lived long enough to have a higher than average talent at reading faces and expressions? She hadn't been good enough.

The problem was that the brothers had no idea _what_ she had been lying about. Had every word she'd said been a lie, or only part of it? Her behaviour had been strange and erratic during the whole meeting. She'd appeared calm, but minuscule hints had given her away - micro-expressions, twitches, changes of body language for no reason...

She hadn't been lying about being a vampire. Her strength and speed proved that. but had she been lying about the specifics of the 'spell' Bonnie had cast on her, which had apparently disturbed her transformation into a vampire? Perhaps there was another reason for the change in eye-colour? Or maybe the lie was about how in control she was? Maybe she was hiding the fact that she'd been binge-eating ever since turning, had killed many people and was trying to hide that from the Salvatores?

No, that didn't make sense. If the latter was true, Bonnie would've sensed it and stopped Caroline.

So perhaps the lie was about Katherine's death? But why lie about that? If Katherine was still alive and on the loose, then what purpose would it serve to pretend she was dead? Or maybe they'd captured her and intended to do something to her, and needed everyone to believe she was dead so nobody would come for Katherine?

Nothing made sense.

Damon and Stefan each knew Caroline had been lying, but they didn't know what the lie was about.

-x-x-x-

Unlike for Stefan and Damon, Caroline was perfectly willing to tell Elena everything. They were close friends, and keeping a secret from Elena felt downright wrong. Elena seemed to take it rather well, considering Caroline had just admitted to being one step more gruesome than a vampire, and consuming more than just blood. The cannibalism didn't seem to shock Elena all that much, strangely. With all the vampires around, she was probably used to such weirdness. But, she _did_ seem surprised at the news of Katherine's death.

It was petty, but Caroline felt indignant that Katherine's death got more of a reaction than her being a man-eater. Literally. Or would that be 'human-eater'? Katherine-eater? Vampire-eater? But that didn't sound as cool as man eater... Well, whatever.

... But Caroline the Man-Eater seemed like such an awesome title.

Angry at herself for losing focus, she concentrated back on Elena and Bonnie.

"I still can't believe Katherine's dead," Elena was saying, her tone rather breathy with surprise. "She's done so many things and hurt so many people that, to think she's _gone_-"

"Are you okay?" said Bonnie, patting Elena on the shoulder. "I know it hasn't been easy for you."

_What about me?!_ thought Caroline, indignant. _I'm the one who turned into a monster!_

"I'll be fine," said Elena, pushing a few strands of hair out of her face. "It's just a bit... shocking. I..." Her eyes widened, as if she'd just remembered something. "I need to tell Stefan! He'll be happy to know she isn't making trouble anymore, that-"

"He already knows," snapped Caroline, still unhappy that Elena was the centre of attention despite the subject being about Caroline.

Elena looked hurt, and immediately Caroline felt guilty. It wasn't like Elena had been trying to stead the attention on purpose.

"Sorry," continued Caroline, her tone softer. "We already told him, but we need you to keep my situation a secret."

Elena frowned. "If you already told him, then how can you keep it a secret?"

"We told Stefan and Damon that Caroline killed Katherine," explained Bonnie. "I said that when Damon gave Caroline blood at the hospital to heal, I placed a spell on her to make her stronger, just in case anything happened. I said that the spell had a reaction with Caroline turning, and that's why she doesn't look completely like a vampire, and her eyes are silver. We didn't tell them what Caroline has really become. I did use some magic to fool the senses so that she feels like a vampire, just in case."

"And they believed what you said?" said Elena, surprised.

"Yep," said Caroline. The other personality, the one hidden inside her, had had extensive training in acting, lying and infiltrating. Caroline had tried using the little she had access to, and despite her not lying with the same skill as her alter-ego, she had managed to fool the Salvatores.

"You need to keep Caroline's situation quiet. No one can know," said Bonnie.

Elena didn't seem convinced of the importance of keeping it a secret.

"Why? Katherine's dead, so everything's fine, right?"

"Not really." Bonnie seemed sheepish. "You know there's always something new turning up in town. We're keeping this a secret so we have an element of surprise, just in case someone worse than Katherine turns up."

"I'm telling you about this because you're my friend," said Caroline, gazing intently into Elena's eyes. "I don't trust Stefan and Damon, but I trust you."

Elena looked guilty.

"Do you... remember?"

Blinking, Caroline leaned back. "Remember what?"

Elena pursed her lips. "I'm not sure if I should-"

"Remember _what_?" asked Caroline, again.

Elena hesitated, but in the end she caved. She explained how when Damon had arrived in town, he'd used Caroline s a source of blood, feeding off her and using her. He'd compelled her to forget every thing he'd done every time, and it had been a horrible time for Caroline. A time Caroline herself couldn't remember.

"It's true," said Bonnie softly.

Caroline was staring at the ground. She couldn't remember anything. She should've felt rage or anger at what he had done, but she couldn't remember any of it. It was like saying to someone 'you've been murdered in another life'. It just didn't hold enough importance when there weren't any memories attached to it. Still, Caroline felt uncomfortable, as if ants were crawling over her skin. Damon had touched her without her consent, and she hadn't even known about it.

"I... need to think about this." Her tone was oddly subdued.

She rose from Elena's bed, and looked at her friends.

"Is it okay if go? I need... " What did she need? "I need some space."

Elena was looking at her with those big, pretty brown eyes. Those were the eyes that had ensnared every boy who'd come across her.

"Sure," said the girl. "Call us if you need anything."

Caroline nodded. She picked up her jacket and walked out of Elena's room. She took the staircase down, passing Jeremy on the way ("Hey, Caroline." "Hi, Jeremy.") and left the house.

The air felt strangely cold, and she shivered. She put on her jacket, her mind elsewhere. Honestly, she didn't even want to think of those revelations. Apparently a vampire remembered every compulsion they'd lived under as a human, but Caroline hadn't become a vampire. She'd become something else, and those elusive memories hadn't come back as they would've had she turned into a vampire.

She wanted to do something else.

A few seconds passed as she thought about what she wanted to do now. She had several things that needed to be done, but none of them were things she particularly wanted to do. They were mostly administrative things, such as planning the next event at school, co-ordinating with the coach of the school's team to know where the cheerleaders would be placed, and so on.

Caroline felt like doing something fun, and daring. (_RipKillBloodLaughHuntCrunch**EAT**_) She thought and thought, desperate for something to do, to forget the fact that her memories couldn't be trusted, that something was in her mind and she was changing without being able to stay herself. She needed to do something out of the ordinary, to forget the problems that were troubling her.

Suddenly, she smiled. She knew exactly what she was going to do, and it was the perfect thing to avoid thinking about her troubles.

She was going to visit Mason, and see if he had answered her message.

-x-x-x-

White walls, red drapes, pretty furniture. The Lockwood house (read: mansion) was quite nice. Mrs. Lockwood was the one who let Caroline in, a bit confused that Caroline was asking to see Mason, when Tyler was the one Caroline knew best. Well, Caroline didn't really _know _Tyler _that_ much, but she knew Mason a lot less. Caroline was sent to wait in the lounge, where she sat down on a sofa and brought out her phone to keep herself occupied.

_At Lckwd house. Going to speak to Mason. xxx_

A few seconds was all it took for her to receive an answer.

_Be careful. Werewolf bite fatal._

She smiled. It was cute that Stefan cared, but_ it would take a lot more than a bite to kill her. She was a **warrior**, immune to **poison**. It would take much more than a **bite** to-_

Shaking her head, Caroline attempted to physically rid herself of that strange moment, blinking and trying to avoid letting her thoughts stray in a dangerous direction. she was a master at self-delusion and was good at corralling her mind in the right direction.

Someone cleared their throat, and Caroline raised her head. Oh. Mason.

"Sorry," she said, putting her phone away.

"You wanted to see me?" said Mason, half-question, half-statement.

Caroline straightened and flashed a smile. "Oh yeah, I wanted to know if you got my note, and the present."

It took half a second for his eyes to illuminate in realization.

"Was it..." He grimaced. "Some kind of joke?"

Was he trying to play dumb?

"Nah," she said. "I sent it for some vamps who didn't like people they didn't recognize in Mystic Falls. So."

A corner of his mouth tilted up despite himself. HAH! She'd made him smile! While she might not be Elena, she liked to think she was reasonably good at this.

"So?" he repeated.

"Well?" She looked at him expectantly.

"Well?" he asked, confused.

"Are you going to repeat every thing I say, or answer? Are you evil, or not?"

He seemed surprised by her bluntness.

"... No?"

Well, he certainly wasn't very helpful.

"Is that a NO-no, or a maybe-no?" One had to be sure with such things. Caroline had watched enough movies to know that the more details you got from a maybe-enemy, the better.

This time, he smiled.

Oh my gosh, _dimples_. Internally, Caroline was swooning. How come she'd never noticed how attractive he was? Well, she hadn't ever known him and the last time he'd been in town she must've been something like nine years old, but still!

There was something to be said about attractive men. Though, judging by how her life went, if someone was attractive it probably meant they were evil. so far, all the bad guys had been attractive; Damon, who'd apparently used her and had then made her forget, and Katherine, who had attempted to kill her. And in movies, bad guys were often charming and suave. Mason didn't seem particularly suave, but he _was_ charming.

"It's a NO-no," he said, smiling. He'd even placed emphasis on the first 'no', copying Caroline.

Caroline's other self, the one she'd done her best to ignore, was telling her that he was telling the truth; he genuinely believed himself to be a good guy.

"That's cool," said Caroline, relieved. "That means all the bad guys around have been taken care of."

Mason's eyebrows were furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"It's not that complicated," said Caroline, grinning shyly and trying to remember that she liked Matt, and was taken. "People were worried you'd be a problem. Just three days ago we took care of the last problem, a vampire chick who tried to kill me, and since you're cool then that means we're cool, too." She tilted her head to the side. "Get it?"

She'd sounded so awkward! It wasn't her fault, she was just nervous.

Mason was staring fixedly at the wall, his gaze unfocused.

"Vampire chick?" he asked faintly.

"Hm-hmm," said Caroline, nodding. "She tried to suffocate me in my hospital room, but she was killed just in time. I don't think you know her; her name was Katherine and she looked so much like my best friend, it was creepy. But I guess she's taken care of, so that's fine."

She shouldered her bag, wracking her brain to ensure she hadn't forgotten any questions she had for him.

"I need to go back home, now. So I guess, welcome back to Mystic Falls?"

She flashed him a smile and headed out, just managing to hear the small "thanks" he said back.

Once out of the large house, Caroline inhaled deeply. Then, she exhaled, feeling her tension leave.

Everyone was going to be so proud! She'd managed to take care of the situation and prove herself! Now she just needed to test Stefan and tell him the good news; Mason wasn't a bad guy, so everything was fine!


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks to the awesome reviewers: Not-Gonna-Update, EtherealDemon, Emerald Isis and one guest!_

_To respond to the guest who wanted to know when Klaus shows up: This chapter covers the end of the episode Memory Lane and the whole episode Kill or Be Killed. They are the fourth and fifth episode of the second season, respectively. With that you should be able to know that we're just before the events where Elijah is introduced, and you can predict around when Klaus will show up, because it will loosely mirror canon and most characters should show up around the same time as in the series, as long as the changes aren't too major._

-x-x-x-

"What're you doing?"

Bonnie looked up from the book she'd been reading. "I have to finish reading this for next week. 'S for class."

Caroline sat down on the couch next to Bonnie, yawning. "Is it interesting?"

Bonnie thought for only two seconds before she gave her answer:

"Not really," she said, smiling. "Why, do you want to read it?"

Caroline wrinkled her nose. "No. I don't like reading books. I fall asleep."

Raising an eyebrow, Bonnie let her doubt show on her face. "Caroline, you read all the Twilight books in one week. You don't fall asleep because of books, you fall asleep when it's boring books. Clearly you liked Twilight well enough to make an effort."

Caroline looked away pensively. Technically, now that she thought about it, they were kind of living out adventures like in Twilight, weren't they? Just more realistic and gory, and the monsters were accurate to their myths.

The two girls were in Bonnie's house, in the living room. It was a very ordinary room and it would be impossible to guess it belonged to the home of a teenaged witch. Caroline remembered that it was here Bonnie had come up with the plan to make Caroline pretend she was a vampire.

"So," said Bonnie, oblivious to her friend's thoughts, "how did it go? You said you had a plan to find out if Mason's up to something. Did you find anything?"

Straightening, Caroline nodded.

"Yeah! I asked and he said he wasn't planning anything evil. I told Damon he was a good guy, and Damon said okay."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "He just said okay? Didn't he ask for proof?"

"Nope."

Bonnie still looked disbelieving.

"I promise! Damon isn't stupid. He won't attack someone innocent."

"Then you obviously don't know him, Elena. The only thing he cares about is Elena, and maybe his brother. I don't think he'll leave Mason alone just because you asked him to."

Caroline looked smug. "I threatened him. I said you'd fry his brain if he did anything except attack Mason out of self-defence. And I also said Elena would stop talking to him. It worked."

That time, Bonnie was impressed. "Good job." She looked down at the coffee table, and the pot of tea on it, as well as the two cups. "Do you want more tea?"

Caroline looked at her teacup, a white thing with gold filigree, with an expression of disgust. "Do I have to? The taste sucks." Caroline only drank fruit tea, and even then, she had specific tastes. Some fruit teas she loved, others she hated. This wasn't fruit tea, so she didn't like it, at all.

"Yes," said Bonnie. It wasn't the first time she'd had to convince Caroline to drink it. "You aren't a vampire, so that means you can be compelled. If someone manages to compel you, you'd be too strong for me or another vampire to stop. You need to protect yourself, and a vervain necklace isn't enough. Drinking this tea will be useful in case you lose your necklace or it gets ripped off."

Caroline stared at the teapot dubiously. "If you say so."

She held out her cup and let Bonnie pour some tea in it. She then raised the steaming cup to her lips and blew on it softly. Once the temperature was deemed acceptable, she took a sip.

Immediately, she grimaced.

"Ugh, I hate it."

Bonnie didn't seem to pity her. "You'll get used to it."

There was a moment of silence, before Caroline resumed doing what she did best; talk.

"I met this cute guy today and managed to get his number," she told Bonnie. "It would've been better if I'd got it because of my charm instead of the 'obvious psychological distress' I was displaying," she said, the air quotes practically audible. She rolled her eyes. "The guy seemed to think I was depressed, and to think I thought I'd gotten his number 'cause he thought I was cute!"

Bonnie just snorted.

"And man," continued Caroline, "tomorrow's the fifth of March, so there's the picnic for the historical society going on. I got my mum to volunteer but I bet she's going to bail and leave at the last minute..."

Comfortingly, Bonnie placed a hand on Caroline's shoulder, letting go of her book.

"Your mum's busy, but she loves you, Caroline. Don't forget that."

"Yeah yeah," grumbled Caroline."

-x-x-x-

"My uncle's weird, man," Tyler was saying to Matt.

Caroline had her head on her boyfriend's should, not really contributing to the conversation.

They were at the Mystic Grill, sitting in a booth with some drinks and snacks. Caroline hadn't touched any of it. Her body wasn't quite human anymore, and she only needed a mouthful of normal food every week (as well as one human a month) to be satisfied. She'd been forcing herself to eat more than she could take, but she hadn't made enough efforts because her mum was starting to make pointed comments about 'some diets not being worth it'.

Every day, Caroline had felt like vomiting. She had been forcing herself to eat a quarter of what a normal person could eat, making herself sick, and it still wasn't enough. Soon, her mum might start thinking she was turning anorexic.

It hurt her perfectionist tendencies to know she was failing at pretending to be a normal girl.

"It's like he doesn't care about my dad at all. He's been going on and on about this family heirloom he's looking for, a moonstone that's apparently not worth anything. But the way he's been obsessively searching the house... _Man_, it's like he cares more about that stone than my dad being dead. I know he was a douche, but Mason's his brother."

Matt frowned. His body moved, nearly dislodging Caroline, but he settled down again.

"Maybe the stone's rare?"

Tyler shook his head. "Nah, I did some research-"

"You? Research?" asked Matt, snorting.

Tyler glared, popping some crisps in his mouth.

"Hah, hah. Hilarious."

Caroline winced. He'd said that with a full mouth and she hadn't enjoyed seeing half-eaten food move around in his mouth.

"Anyway," continued Tyler, looking at Matt resentfully, "I looked up the stone he's looking for, and there wasn't anything interesting. It isn't worth that much, so he doesn't want it to sell it off." He searched his jean pocket and pulled out an oval-shaped, rounded stone. It was misty white, and looked like a bar of soap. "I have it here, but I kind of don't wanna give it to him, just to see him squirm. And who knows? Maybe he'll stay with us longer if he doesn't get what he wants."

Caroline was looking at it, admiring. Precious stones had that effect on her.

"It's so pretty..." she breathed. "I'd give anything to have something that nice." After all, her family was nowhere near loaded enough to have precious stones as ancient heirlooms.

Tyler shrugged, and tossed it at her. Surprised, she barely managed to catch it. She looked at him hesitantly.

"Are you _giving_ it to me?"

Again, Tyler shrugged. "Why not? You seem to like it much more than _I_ do."

Well, Caroline thought, if only everyone could be rich enough to afford giving away expensive stuff like that.

Instead of being mean, she smiled sincerely.

"Thanks, Tyler."

He was a really nice guy.

Tyler reddened, scratching the back of his neck.

"No problem," he mumbled.

Matt laughed, taking a few sips of his coke. "You putting the moves on my girlfriend, man?"

Tyler grinned. "And what if I am?" He flexed his muscles. "Not my fault she can recognize a superior man when she sees one."

Caroline leaned over and slapped him, though she didn't put any strength behind the movement.

"_Pig_," she said jokingly. "Matt is the only one for me."

They spent the rest of the evening joking and chatting.

-x-x-x-

The next day, Mystic Falls' public park was bright and cheery, the sun casting a warm glow everywhere.

Sheriff Forbes was busy carrying some things around in preparation for the picnic organized by the historical society, when someone came up behind her to help her carry a table.

"Oh," she said, turning around. "Thanks, Mason."

"Hey Sheriff," said Mason. He was wearing a white button up shirt that made his blue eyes seem to glow, and some beige trousers. He seemed a bit tense, an attitude different from his usual laid-back self. "Do you have a second?

Waving away the politeness, Forbes said:

"I'm not on working hours. Call me Liz."

"Okay, Liz. I wanted to talk to you about..." He hesitated. "... the council."

Forbes frowned. He knew of the council, of course, but he'd rejected the offer to join it. Nevertheless, he should have known he wasn't supposed to just talk about it like that, in public.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Mason sighed. "Listen, I know that you and the other founding families have a secret council."

"Really? Well if it were true, then you'd know better than to talk about it in a _public_ park."

"Look," he continued, his tone becoming faintly exasperated. "I know I rejected all that but it's not because I didn't believe. I know vampires exist and you have one living right under your nose."

Forbes raised a brow dubiously, amused that he thought he knew better than she did about what went on in her town. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"And... _who_, is it?

He hesitated, yet again.

"Who?" she repeated.

"Your daughter, Caroline."

Forbes laughed, finally putting the table she'd been carrying back down on the ground. "No, she isn't. I would know if my own daughter was a vampire."

"I know it's a lot to take in," said Mason, "but-"

"No," said Forbes. 2I refuse to listen to your outrageous lies. Caroline can walk in the sun, for Pete's sake. That should be proof enough."

"Vampires have evolved," he said. "They figured it out, Liz. They can walk in the sun, now."

"**No**," she said firmly. "I will always trust my daughter over you, Mason. Do you have any idea how hurtful these accusations are? She's my daughter!"

There was a second of silence.

"... What if I can prove it to you?"

-x-x-x-

"I love these events," said Caroline gleefully, looking around at all the people.

"It's nice, isn't it?" murmured Elena. Her voice faded into a rasp, and she started coughing.

Alarmed, Caroline hit her friend's back a few times to help clear her airways. "Are you all right?" she asked, worried.

"Yeah," said Elena. She coughed a few more times, and then got her breathing under control again. "Sorry, I got a cold and my throat's been sore all day." She smiled, but it turned into a grimace and she began coughing again.

Caroline rubbed comforting circles on Elena's back. Poor girl.

Just then, a little girl came up to them. She was blonde, with cute pigtails and an adorable red and white checked dress. Caroline had to restrain herself from squealing at the how cute the child looked.

The girl held up a cup of lemonade for Caroline to take. "This is for you. It's really good so you can have some."

Caroline laughed. "Oh, I'm allowed to have some, am I?" she said, taking the paper cup from the girl's hands.

"Yes," answered the child, looking very serious, as if the information was of vital importance. She tilted her head to the side. "So do you like it?"

Caroline drank a mouthful, and was assaulted by the familiar taste of vervain. Had Bonnie decided to send some little girl with a vervain drink just because Caroline hadn't drunk her daily dose of vervain tea? Come to think of it, how had Bonnie known Caroline hadn't drunk her tea that morning? Well, it didn't matter.

Caroline smiled, swallowing the liquid.

"It was very good," she told the girl.

The child nodded, looking just as serious as before, and skipped away. So cute.

Sighing at the thought of adorable children, Caroline turned around, and noticed her mother several metres away.

"Hey, mum!" she shouted, and waved.

Her mum gave a distracted wave back, and went back to whatever she'd been doing. Shrugging, Caroline turned back to Elena.

"Shall we go?"

-x-x-x-

"I don't understand," said Mason, backing away. "I'm not lying, she's a vampire! She must've resisted the vervain somehow!"

Sheriff Forbes was glaring, and fingering her gun.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing at, Mason, but it stops now."

"You don't get it," he said desperately. "She's a vampire, trust me!"

But Forbes was shaking her head, dismissing his words.

"That's just it. I don't trust you. You come back after being gone for years and accuse my daughter of being a vampire?"

"But-" he said.

"But _nothing_. I want you to leave this town, Mason. "She looked him straight in the eye. "I want you to leave, and not come back. We were fine without you and your wild accusations, and honestly, I don't feel happy knowing you're in Mystic Falls, living in the same town as my daughter, and being convinced she's a vampire. Of course, you'd never do something stupid like attack her, but honestly? I want you gone, _now_."


	7. Chapter 7

_Thanks to the reviewers: EtherealDemon, Elliichen and kcinara._

_This one came out faster because vacations are here and I'll be gone for a while so I might not update these next two weeks. This is to cover for the vacations. Hope you guy like._

_Enjoy!_

-x-x-x-

"So," asked Caroline, "what do you want?"

Bonnie had asked for her help, not bothering with many details. They were now in a clearing outside of town. It was rather empty, on the side of the road, surrounded by trees. The clearing was filled with very tall grass that came up to their knees. Caroline regretted wearing a dress; it was a bit early since it wasn't summer yet, but when she'd put it on she'd thought it would be fine. But now, in this sort of field-slash-clearing with itchy plants brushing against her legs and ants crawling all over her was not something she appreciated.

At the moment, she noticed some sort of horrid centipede thing on her platform shoe and she shrieked.

"Off! Off! OFF!" She shouted, shaking her leg with supernatural strength. The poor creature was sent shooting towards the other end of the field, probably vaporising on impact with the ground.

Caroline brushed her hair away and straightened, composing herself. She breathed in deeply, and her customary smile was in place.

"You were saying?" she asked Bonnie.

The witch was looking bemused, but unsurprised at Caroline's... Carolineness.

"I want to practice a spell," answered Bonnie. "I just want you to be there for support."

"Wait," said Caroline, opening her arms as if to show off the whole clearing. "So you got me out in the middle of nowhere 'cause you want to practice a spell, and I'm just going to watch?! I can't even do something while you do your magic shtick?!"

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Care, don't be dramatic. You're also there to help if anything goes wrong."

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Don't think I can't tell you made that up right now."

_I'm gonna **rip** you apart for the waste of time, human, _growled something within her. Caroline inhaled, and exhaled slowly, pretending the voice wasn't there. Ignoring it was the only thing she'd been able to do so far, and it generally worked well.

Bonnie said nothing. She was opening her grimoire, reading as she advanced towards the centre of the field. Caroline followed her, keeping an eye on her in case she tripped because she'd been too busy reading to look at where she was going.

After half a minute of walking, Bonnie stopped. Caroline waited, but her friend seemed completely engrossed in her witch book. She waited some more, until it became apparent that this was going to be extremely boring.

"What are you doing, exactly?" asked Caroline, already exasperated after having spent barely a few minutes there. She crossed her arms, tapping her high-heeled show against the uneven ground.

"I'm testing a spell," said Bonnie, "to hide the scent of my blood from vampires. That way, I won't smell as good to them."

Caroline nodded distractedly, already dreading the hours she'd spend doing nothing while Bonnie practiced.

"_Riiight_. Fantastic."

-x-x-x-

Weeks later came the masquerade ball, organised by the Lockwoods. It was quite the grand affair, with everyone of importance being invited. Mystic Falls was known for its extravagant celebrations, and those were what had the levels of tourism so high. The parties, balls and festivals attracted people from all the nearby towns and cities, and it was one of the major sources of revenue for Mystic Falls.

Caroline was going, of course. Matt would be her date for the event. Of course, it wasn't like she would have taken anyone but her boyfriend to the event. Bonnie was coming along, and she would be with her boyfriend Carter, the handyman she'd met at the carnival the night Caroline had been in the hospital. They'd really hit it off and were now in a happy relationship.

Elena was going with Stefan, and Damon was tagging along with some girl who looked a bit too young to be with him.

"Is that... Aimee Bradley?!" asked Caroline, completely shocked. Last she knew, the girl was single, but to think she'd be with Damon...

Caroline remembered what she'd been told, about how apparently she'd been mistreated, abused and raped by Damon, and then it had all been erased from her memory. Was Damon doing the same to Aimee? Caroline had never liked the girl because she'd always been clingy and had hung off Caroline as if that would increase her popularity, but that didn't mean Caroline was leaving her to such a fate without even bothering to help.

"Matt?" she asked sweetly, batting his eyelashes at him.

He wasn't fooled.

"What do you want, Care?" he asked, seemingly amused despite himself.

She loved him and so wouldn't lie to him. Much.

"Damon's a jerk and doesn't deserve Aimee, so I'm going to save her from him. Can you go get drinks while I do that?"

Matt raised his eyes and looked over at the couple. They were dancing, with Aimee looking blissful and Damon bored out of his skull.

"Isn't he a bit old for her?"

Caroline nodded. "Exactly."

"I'll get the drinks. Go do your thing."

Smiling, she pressed a kiss against his cheek and gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks."

And off she went. As she approached, Damon raised his eyes to look at her. When she was in the middle of the dancing area, within hearing distance, he asked:

"Anything you want, blondie?"

"I need Aimee for a sec," she said, and without bothering with an answer, she ripped the girl out of his arms rather violently.

"Hey!" shouted Aimee, causing people to turn to look.

"Stop using people," Caroline hissed at Damon, "or I will end you."

Damon waved her away, looking supremely amused, like she was a little puffed-up kitten trying to scare him.

"Sure," he said, not meaning it in the least.

Bastard.

-x-x-x-

Caroline woke up the day after the masquerade, feeling tired and in need of a long bath. Her phone was ringing, and it was what had woken her. She really wanted to go back to sleep. Her hand shot out and grasped the object. She brought it her ear.

"What?!" she snapped, only half-aware.

"It's Elena," answered Bonnie. "She's not there. Jeremy called me because apparently she never came home, and he wanted to know if she slept at my house. She's gone, Care. Someone took her."

Caroline stiffened. She looked at the little clock on her bedside table. School would be starting in an hour.

"I'll be right there," she said. "Bye."

She ended the phone call and practically jumped out of bed. Unwilling to put on several articles of clothing, she threw on a yellow, breezy summer dress with a belt cinching it underneath of breasts. Then she added some white flats and grabbed her bag.

Within a few seconds she was out of the house, having shouted a quick goodbye at her mother on the way. Of course, she hadn't bothered answering her mum's questions as to why she was leaving so early. Caroline would just have to make it up to her later.

She ran to her car and jumped in, brushing a hand through her hair to try and make it a little bit presentable. It didn't take her long to arrive at Bonnie's house, as it was early and there were few cars out at that time of the morning. She parked her car across the front yard crookedly and made it up to the front door, nearly tripping on the way there. Bonnie was already there, with the door open, a stressed expression on her face.

"Come in, quick," she said, opening the door further.

Jeremy was there, sitting on a couch in the living room. On a table was a map. Bonnie made Caroline sit down, and then went to sit next to Bonnie.

"Elena's been kidnapped," said Bonnie. "I'm going to use Jeremy's blood to track her, since they are family and he's close enough for it to work. I want you, Care, to be the one following my directions, to Elena."

"Shouldn't... we be telling Stefan and Damon about this?" asked Jeremy.

Yeah, why weren't they calling the Salvatores? Caroline knew they were supposed to be pretty strong, so they'd be useful, wouldn't they?

"No," said Bonnie. "Caroline's the one I trust with this, and she's not your average vampire; she's stronger. She'll do a better job and won't risk being killed for doing something stupid. I don't trust them to do it right."

Caroline smiled, proud. Sometimes Bonnie would still flinch at her, because of what she was and what she ate. But their friendship was stronger than that, and they were making efforts to stay united, as close as ever. This was why they were saving Elena together; they were a team.

The ritual to track Elena was simple. Some of Jeremy's blood was dripped on the map, and Bonnie used her power to make the blood move until it was on the spot where Elena was. There was only one problem with it...

"Elena's moving," said Bonnie. "She's in some sort of vehicle, so I'll need to do the spell several times to keep tracking her. Caroline, drive over there, and then I'll track Elena again and tell you where you should go."

Caroline's first destination was Lynchburg. It was small, and while driving she came across a big empty stretch of land on an isolated road crossing the countryside. There was a parked car there, with an open door and no one in sight. As she approached the seemingly abandoned car, she finally noticed its owner on the ground, with blood on the ground.

It took a quick examination to deem him a vampire's victim.

"I found something," she said into her phone. "A body. Someone a vamp drunk from." She didn't sound the least bit disturbed by it; it was her other, darker side talking. "I think Elena was in the back of the car, but she's not there anymore. There are tracks left by another car, so I think someone else took her from here."

"Good job," said Bonnie. "I've done the tracking spell again. Here's your next location..."

And so it went. Caroline went from Lynchburg to Roanoke, then Danville and to Martinsville. It was at that last stop that they encountered a problem.

"Bonnie's unconscious," said Jeremy on the phone. "She used the spell too many times. She just started bleeding and I don't know what to do!" He seemed quite distressed.

"It's okay," said Caroline, even though it was not okay. She had no way of finding Elena now, and every second wasted was a second someone could be hurting Elena. It didn't help that her dark side, the memories that weren't hers, were appearing and strongly informing her of what they'd seen being done to female captives.

She spent the next several hours combing the town, driving everywhere in a vain attempt to find her friend, and asking townspeople questions in hopes of finding anything. No one could recall seeing a car passing by, because too many had passed for them to notice anything specific.

Finally, hours later, Bonnie was finally capable of performing the spell again, and this time to location didn't change; Elena's location had stopped changing, so she was likely being kept in a more permanent place.

Caroline's destination was near Eden, which was West of Reidsville. It was three hours away from Mystic Falls.

The area Elena was at was woody, a large forest with no indication of where Caroline should go. Jeremy went to search on a laptop and looked up an aerial view of the place. There was only one building in the vicinity; a mansion in the middle of the forest, near the East of the woods.

And so, Caroline went, ready to tear to pieces whoever had dared touch her friend.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you to those who reviewed! I update because the reviews motivate me, so the more feedback I get, the faster I'll write! The ones you have to thank for such a quick update are kcinara, EtherealDemon, xdtvd and one guest!

-x-x-x-

The house was more of a mansion, really. The place where Elena was supposedly being kept looked like it had been pretty once upon a time, but it had evidently been abandoned for at least a decade, because the paint was chipping and it was in a state of disrepair that made Caroline's nose wrinkle. Her delicate sensibilities and taste for beauty didn't appreciate being forced into such a place.

She entered the house, not bothering to be discrete. She wouldn't be able to avoid making noise with the floorboards creaking like crazy, so she didn't try.

She was in the front hall, with a large staircase in front of her, and doors on each side. Should she take the stairs, or the doors? She fingered her bag, and the varying blades and pieces of sharpened wood in there. She'd come prepared. She also had bottles full of a specific liquid that she'd been informed was hurtful to vampires. It didn't matter if the kidnappers were human or vampire; she could take them.

At that moment, some people came out of the door to her right. First came an unknown woman with short hair, and then came a man in a suit, holding on tightly to... Elena!

"And who might _this_ be?" asked the man.

The woman with short hair didn't have an answer for him. "I don't know."

Caroline didn't really care either way. Her darker side was steadily taking over, and her concern for Elena was fast being obscured by feelings of possession over her friend, and wrath at the idea of anyone daring to steal her. Bit by bit, she was losing sight of Elena as a person and friend, and thinking of her as just another thing that belonged to _her_.

"Hello," she said. "I'm missing class because of you people, so let's make it _quick_. You give me back my friend, and then I beat you up like you deserve. Fair?" Her smile was saccharine, and she tilted her head to the side, her expression innocent like she'd just asked what their favourite colour was.

The man tossed Elena to his female accomplice, and came towards Caroline.

His fighting style was all about power. He had strength and he used it, often sacrificing a good defence to get hits in. He healed extremely fast, and his speed was incredible. Caroline's fighting style relied on what her memories told her. She never stopped moving, throwing knifes at him that were more often than not caught before they even came in contact

The first time he managed to get a hit in, it was an uppercut so powerful that it broke her neck.

Fortunately for her, she wasn't a vampire, and it would take much more than that to even hope to hurt her. Before he realized his move was ineffective, she sent a powerful haymaker at his face, and managed to throw him backwards.

It wasn't enough.

He'd crashed into the stairs but was up on his feet within seconds. He came at her and she barely managed to parry in time. She skittered back, trying to stay away from him so she could think about her next move, but he was having none of it.

His arm swung around, aiming for her head. She threw herself backwards, avoiding it just in time. His attack had felt powerful and would've undoubtedly decapitated her on contact. She sent a swinging kick at him, but he caught her by the ankle and threw her on the floor. She choked, blood filling her lungs and anger getting the best of her. He didn't allow her any time to plan, caught her in a chokehold, raising her off the floor.

She was left kicking and trying to escape his grasp. His hands were tightening around her, so she decided it was time to bring out the big guns.

Her silver eyes became golden, the pupils turning to slits like those of a reptile. Her face distorted, her mouth growing until the edges of her lips were ripped open, her smile extending all the way to her ears, showing a mouth full of fangs. Saliva was dripping down on the man's expensive sleeves, and she could see she'd shocked him.

And then she staked him.

The distraction had worked.

Caroline turned around. The other kidnapper was gaping at her, shocked at her change of appearance. When Caroline took a step forward, the woman let go of Elena and with a blur of movement, she was gone.

Lurching forward, Elena threw her arms around Caroline. Caroline hugged her, tightening her hold when she felt the trembles coming from her friend's body.

"It's okay," she said. "Shhhhh... It's okay, I killed him; you're fine."

"But you're _not_," mumbled Elena into her shoulder. "Care, you just _killed_ someone. How can you be this calm? Don't you realize how you've changed?"

Caroline found that she had nothing to say to that.

-x-x-x-

Elena had been safely delivered home. On the way, she'd explained what she'd learnt, about why they'd taken her. It had been a complicated story involving a curse, some sort of stone nobody had seen in centuries, and a doppelgänger. Elena was a doppelgänger, and important to break a curse that stopped vampires from going out in the sun and forced werewolves to transform under the full moon. Apparently, that meant that some pretty powerful people wanted to get their hands on Elena so they could break the curse for their own benefit. However, to break the curse Elena would have to die, and that was reason enough for Caroline to protect her and kill anyone who wanted to take her best friend.

Caroline was currently being yelled at by her mother, who had not been amused by the fact that her daughter had skipped class. For obvious reasons, Caroline couldn't explain that she'd stopped a kidnapping from evolving into something worse (what if those sick vampires had planned on eating her, or raping her, or both?) and saved the day. She didn't have any explanation to give, so eventually she just mumbled:

"I was stressed. I needed some time alone."

But that wasn't enough for Sheriff Forbes.

And so, Caroline was sent to her room, without a phone or access to her computer. She wasn't allowed supper, which was rather positive for her, as she wouldn't have been able to eat anyway.

When she was sure she was alone, she opened her bag. It still had a few knives in it, as well as the bottles of anti-vamp liquid she hadn't been able to use. The bag has been large enough to fit a package she'd wrapped in Elena's male kidnapper's fancy jacket. Opening the package revealed a forearm belonging to the vampire she'd staked. She couldn't have brought the entire body, so she'd taken enough to sate her hunger. She would need more soon, so tomorrow she'd drive back to the abandoned mansion and eat the rest of the man. Vampires didn't decay much when they were dead, so he'd still taste okay.

She opened her mouth, saliva already dripping down her chin and her eyes turning a gleaming yellow with hunger, when she was made aware of another presence as a breeze ruffled her hair.

With surprising speed, she turned around, keeping an eye out. There was the same breeze again and she caught sight of a familiar figure in her bedroom. The female kidnapper!

She retrieved a bottle from her bag, uncapped it and threw it right at the woman's head. The woman moved and managed to evade it, but she didn't move in time to evade the second one. As a result, she got soaked.

The woman waited for pain to arrive, but nothing happened.

"Was that supposed to do something?" she asked, looking at the Coca Cola dripping down her figure.

Caroline glared at her bottles with an expression of betrayal.

"I didn't have any water, so I asked a priest to bless my coke instead. Guess Holy Coca Cola doesn't work, only Holy Water."

The woman seemed utterly flummoxed.

"What have they been teaching you these days? You're a vampire, aren't you? Shouldn't you know Holy Water doesn't affect us, as well as garlic? Movies and books don't always tell the truth, you know. And... eating a dead vampire's _arm_?!"

"Shut up," said Caroline, crossing her arms defensively. How had the conversation managed to derail so fast? "How did you manage to enter my home, anyway? And, who are you?" Not the most elegantly worded question, but it was Caroline speaking. Her other self tended to be more verbose and old-fashioned, so whenever Caroline had trouble speaking she'd find comfort in the fact that it meant that no one was using her body to speak.

"I'm Rose," said the other woman, her tone careful. "Your mum let me in, earlier. I just had to pretend to be a lost tourist and that a thief had just taken everything from me and _oh_, could the Sheriff help me, please?" She smiled, the gesture not reaching her eyes. It was more of a polite expression, meant to put others at ease. "It wasn't difficult to get invited in."

"What do you want?" asked Caroline, taking a step towards her bed. She was hiding the fact that she was reaching for one of the pieces of wood in her bag, the flimsy things that could barely be considered proper stakes, but that were useful nonetheless.

"I've been running for over five hundred years, with my best friend. Now he's dead, killed by Elijah. I have no reason to run anymore, and nowhere to go."

Was the woman asking what Caroline thought she was asking?

"You can't stay with me," said Caroline. It was always best to be firm with these types, and establish clear limits. You had to treat them like children if you wanted the situation to go anywhere. If you left a loophole, they'd exploit it mercilessly.

Rose laughed. "I don't need any help, thanks. I'm here to give you a warning, to help you."

At the word 'warning', Caroline had tensed up. But she'd relaxed when the 'help' part had come in.

"Why would I need your help?"

Rose approached her slowly, looking at her like she was something special and strange.

"You killed an Original vampire. I hadn't thought it was possible, but you did it. You should just know that Elijah wasn't the only one, and that others will be after the doppelgänger."

Elena. She was referring to Elena. The doppelgänger was Elena.

"Who?" asked Caroline.

"Klaus."

-x-x-x-

Class was boring, then next day. So boring in fact, that Caroline fell asleep, her head held up on her raised hand.

When class ended, her teacher asked, quite concerned, if she was being beaten or abused because she had a red mark in the form of a handprint on her cheek. She couldn't exactly admit having fallen asleep on her hand in the middle of the lecture, so now she was being forced to see a school therapist. She was just lucky it was in a few days and she'd have time to tell her mother herself.

She came back home in a foul mood, unhappy with how things were going.

She could hear her mum talking with someone. Caroline tensed as she heard a male voice respond. For a second, she thought it was her dad, and she really wasn't prepared to see her dad right then. But the voice wasn't the right pitch, so she relaxed.

Though, when she entered the kitchen and saw who her mother was talking to, she took a step back in shock.

"Hey, Caroline," said her mother. "This is Elijah. He's new in town and joined the historical society for help with his research. He's a historian."

The vampire Caroline had staked the day before turned, and upon seeing her, he smiled.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Caroline. Your mother has told me so much about you."

"What field do you study?" asked Caroline, her darker side urging her to act unperturbed.

_Showing weakness is bad,_ it hissed.

Elijah's polite smile widened, until he looked vaguely predatory. Caroline's mum didn't notice.

"I specialize in ancient civilisations. I've been researching for an article I'm writing, on how adolescents today perceive the Aztecs, and what knowledge or stereotypes they have of this ancient civilisation. You mother has been very helpful in explaining what steps I need to take to be allowing to interview classes at the local high school."

"I said he could interview you, Caroline," said her mum. "He needs to talk to teenagers for his paper so I said you might be able to answer some questions. Is that okay?"

No, it was certainly not okay, but Caroline couldn't exactly say that, now could she?

"Sure," she said, thinking of a way to avoid the whole situation. "How about we all sit at the dining table?"

Elijah cleared his throat politely. "I am sorry, but to avoid any form or peer pressure or milieu control, I usually interview the people alone, so their answers are the least biased possible. Such confabulations work best for my work, I've found."

And that was how Caroline found herself in her bedroom, alone with an Original vampire who was looking at her untidy room with amusement. His eyes stopped on a discarded bra halfway under the bed, and Caroline hurriedly kicked it out of view.

That wasn't the sort of impression she'd wanted to give.

Why did they have to do this in her bedroom? Couldn't they have done this pseudo-interview in a bathroom, where the blood would be easily cleaned off?

"What do you want?" she asked, to the point. "You're supposed to be dead."

He was walking around her room, looking at it like it could resolve the mysteries of the universe.

"I find it curious," he said, "that a person as young and ordinary as you can yield such power." He stopped, and turned to look at her. "What are you? You are certainly no vampire."

"You're wrong, you know." That made him raise his head. She'd gotten his attention; good. Now to get answers. "I am not young, or ordinary."

Elijah smiled wryly. "You would claim to be an unordinary old woman, then?"

Caroline sneered at him, the expression belonging to the monster inside, not to Caroline herself.

The voice that came out wasn't Caroline's. It was mocking, and belonged to Ophelia, a woman from another age, a warrior, a demon-slayer who'd become a demon herself. The words, ancient and from another time, where what betrayed her:

"Sudden do you sneak upon me, ready with probing words, noble sir."

Her eyes had turned yellow again, and the smile was back.


	9. Chapter 9

Thank to my awesome reviewers: Elliichen, EtherealDemon, wanderlust-bitethedust, FANFICTIONFREAKStoptakingthis1, kcinara, red ink23 and two guests.

-x-x-x-

"Usually," said Caroline, her inhuman eyes trained on Elijah, "my victims don't come back from the dead. I'd planned on going to get the rest of your body tonight and eat it like I ate your arm. It's a shame you didn't stay crippled when you came back; it would've made things easier for me."

The man had impeccable self-control, and hadn't shown the slightest disgust at her casual comment on cannibalism. Then again, he was a vampire.

"I do not die," said Elijah. "If dismemberment was effective, then my enemies would've dealt with me long ago by tearing all my limbs off and leaving me helpless somewhere for the rest of eternity."

_Wow, depressing much?_ thought Caroline.

"But that is not why I have come," continued Elijah, readjusting his cuffs.

Caroline's eyes followed the movement, and she was struck by how... well-dressed he was. When thinking 'ancient vamp overlord', she'd expected him to wear something of another century to give a better Dracula-vibe, something with frills, coattails and fineries. Instead, he wore a suit, perfectly modern and acceptable, and still managed to appear ancient and dangerous.

"Elena is of import to me. I would recommend you to allow me to proceed without further resistance, or I will have no choice but to retaliate."

Caroline scoffed. "If I let you take her, you'll kill her or do something horrible. I'm not that stupid."

"Once I have found the moonstone, I will use her in the ceremony, yes. But she will come out of it alive and unharmed, and will then be brought back home. I assure you, she will be fine."

The moonstone comment was enough to derail Caroline. She snatched up her purse and brought out the stone Tyler had given her.

"A moonstone is like this, right?" she asked. She wasn't entirely sure.

Elijah's eyes flickered down to it, and it looked like he was physically restraining himself from taking it straight out of her hands.

"Yes, that's the exact stone I'm looking for."

That one? How could she possibly have the stone a dangerous foe was looking for? Caroline's eyes narrowed as she realized that Tyler had just given it to her for no reason, which was highly suspicious. Hell, had Tyler given it to her as a trap, knowing Elijah would want it and be ready for violence to get it? Because Tyler setting up a trap so he wouldn't be attacked for the moonstone seemed more likely than him giving it to someone out of the goodness of his heart. Caroline very well knew that he was a jock and a big jerk most of the time.

It was obvious now. Tyler had planned to have her killed. By giving her the moonstone, he'd known Elijah or someone important would be after it. Did he know what she was? Did he know about her pseudo-vampire identity, or did her know the truth?

"So," said Caroline, placing the stone back in her purse. She felt unnerved by the fact that Elijah's eyes had followed the movement, not even bothering to be subtle. "You want my friend, you want my shiny rock, and you say everything will be fine. How about I say this: Liar!"

It was said loudly enough for Caroline to worry about the possibility of her mother having heard. She would just have to deal with it if her mother decided to barge in and demand an explanation for the shouting.

Elijah didn't sigh or show annoyance at her stubbornness. Instead, he said:

"It is in your best interests to loosen your protective... _grip_ over Elena Gilbert."

"Or what?" said Caroline, taking an intimidating step forward.

Elijah didn't take a step back. He looked at her, his expression bland and polite.

"If you refuse, I shall kill everyone in this town. I'll send ten heads to your home every day until you either change your mind, or I run out of people."

Caroline was scared. The monster in her head was not.

"Really?" she purred, smiling like he'd just said something amusing. There was a hint of her numerous fangs. "You must be truly _desperate_ to utter such a pathetic threat. Do not presume I would care."

Caroline was starting to struggle, wrestling against Ophelia's consciousness in an effort to regain control over her own body. Things weren't going like she wanted them to.

She was panicked, trapped within her own head, nothing but a silent spectator forced to watch events instead of participate. She wasn't sure who was saying what anymore. Seconds ago she'd been convinced she had been the one talking, and yet the response to that threat had been so un-Caroline that she'd realized she'd lost all control over her body. She hadn't even been aware that her hold over her own body had been slipping.

She needed to say something, anything. Her other self only took over when Caroline was scared and lost, when she didn't know what to do. To regain control over her body, she needed to make Ophelia feel like a helping hand that had overstayed its welcome. To do that, she had to say something useful enough to prove she was capable of dealing with the situation. It was the only thing that would make her other self back off. The monster inside her was like a guard dog that only stopped when the threat was neutralized. So, what Caroline said was:

"Tell me why you need her."

Elijah seemed puzzled. He had probably not factored the sudden personality change into his plans.

"You're old, aren't you? You must have learnt how to do speeches and convince people and stuff. I'm asking you to convince _me_ with your words and not with your threats. Tell me why you want her and if you're lucky, I'll think about it."

And that was how Caroline got to play therapist as Elijah spilled out his whole life story. She even managed to look appropriately concerned when Elijah related his brother Klaus' bad deeds and Elijah's plans for revenge.

Heh. Like she cared about the family problems of the guy who'd kidnapped her best friend. But if what he was saying was true, then she was willing to go along with it to save her best friend from Klaus.

-x-x-x-

Elena face palmed.

"Really, Caroline?!"

"What?" said Caroline. "Elijah's plan seems good."

Elena's raised her eyes to the ceiling, as if praying to God. "And you _trust_ him? He kidnapped me!"

"_Duh_. Of course I don't trust him," said Caroline, looking like it was the most evident thing in the world. "That's why I have a backup plan."

"You mean _I_ have a back-up plan," said Bonnie, glaring at Caroline.

"Yeah, yeah, but I'm an important part of it," said Caroline, waving the issue away like she hadn't just attempted to steal the credit.

"Well," continued Bonnie, her tone showing irritation, "I've found a very useful spell that I wanted to try."

"A spell?" Elena sat up, curious.

They were in Elena's room, having decided it was best to speak of such things somewhere private. After talking to Elijah, the first person Caroline had gone to had been Bonnie. After a lot of research, Bonnie had found a spell that could keep Elena safe if Elijah had been lying.

"Yes," said Bonnie. "I looked through the grimoire and found something that could be useful. It's a spell that links two people together, as long as they share a strong bond. The bond can be family or close friendship. Basically, I want to link you and Caroline together. Since Caroline heals very fast, it will mean that the spell will make you heal, too, if someone does anything. If one of you is killed, then as long as the other one is alive, you _both_ stay alive. I've also found a second spell to make sure that nothing bad happens, like Caroline's more dangerous habits using the spell to enter you, too."

Elena looked fearful. "So if I agree to this, there's a chance I could end up like Caroline? Because I don't want-"

"You won't," answered Bonnie, while Caroline felt strangely hurt by how scared her friend was of her. "It's perfectly safe. It's just..."

"Just what?"

"Well, the spell will link you together. That means that more than Caroline's healing power will be shared. What you feel physically might be shared too. If one of you gets hurt, the other one will feel it like a phantom pain. It won't do anything, but it'll be uncomfortable. Any strong physical feelings will be felt by both."

Elena didn't seem comfortable by the idea. "Why can't it just be Stefan?"

Caroline pursed her lips, and pointedly turned her back to Elena.

"Come on, care, you know I didn't mean it like that..."

"I'm not vulnerable to vervain," said Caroline, ignoring her friend's words. "It's harder to hurt me, so it's better if I'm the one protecting you with the spell. Stefan will just protect you by fighting enemies, while I'll be the one sharing the spell with you. Can't you just be happy?"

"I _can_! It's just... I'm not very comfortable with such an invasion of privacy..."

Unable to take it anymore, Caroline turned back to face her friend. "So Stefan is _better_?! Thank you very much. It's nice to know that boyfriends come before best friends."

It felt like a betrayal. Caroline had come to terms with the fact that she was always second best long ago. Elena's favourite friend was Bonnie, her favourite knight in shining armour was Stefan, and Caroline was just there to fill up any holes left behind. But Caroline hadn't cared, because this spell would've made her important, would've raised her worth in Elena's eyes. And even if she'd felt like she was being used, she hadn't cared because she would finally be able to prove herself.

And yet, Elena had rejected her help!

Elena rose and wrapped her arms around Caroline, and that was enough for all the rage to leave. Caroline loved Elena, and knew that her jealousy was petty. She shouldn't have reacted like that.

"I'm sorry Caroline, it's not that I'm not grateful, but I'm just a bit uncomfortable. Don't worry, I'll do it."

Caroline put her hands around Elena, tightening her hold. "You will? Promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

Bonnie brought out a thick piece of cardboard and placed it on the floor. Elena and Caroline stopped hugging and took a few steps back, making space for Bonnie as she began placing candles around the cardboard. Once she'd made a nice circle, she furrowed her brows and within seconds all the candles were lit.

"Elena?"

"Yeah, Bonnie?"

"Before I start this, I'm going to cast a spell on you that I use on myself. It hides the sound of your heartbeat and the smell of your blood. Can you give me your hands?"

Elena kneeled next to Bonnie and held her hands out. They were grasped, and Bonnie started chanting something in Latin. Caroline tried to follow, but her knowledge of Latin mostly came from Harry Potter, so what Bonnie was saying was complete Gibberish to her.

And then, Bonnie stopped chanting and said, "There, it's done."

Leaving Elena on the floor, Bonnie went over to the bed and grasped a small bag she'd brought with her, the bag that had contained the cardboard and candles. Out came a large, silver-coloured knife. Bonnie handed it to Caroline.

"I need each of you to spill a drop of blood on the cardboard, please."

The idea was utterly repulsive to Caroline and even though she knew it had to be done, she contemplated asking one of her friends to cut her while she closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see. She wasn't that masochistic.

The next second, she had cut into her finger and let a drop fall down, and she realized with an increasing sense of horror that her other self had taken control again without her giving permission. Her heat beat faster, but she forced herself to calm down.

_Think about Elena. You're doing this for Elena. It's more important than freaking out right now. You can be scared later._

Unlike Caroline, Elena didn't seem scared to cut her palm open and let some blood drip down. She hissed in pain as she did it, yes, but other than that she showed no fear whatsoever.

The spell happened quickly. Bonnie talked in Latin, the candles seemed to glow brighter than ever, and the two drops of blood dribbled across the cardboard until they joined and formed one minuscule puddle of blood. And then it was done.

"I did it," said Bonnie calmly.


End file.
